"It should be first outlined (to the public), and will depend on whether the public can accept it or not," Energy Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro was quoted by the Koran Tempo newspaper as saying.

Yusgiantoro said that the government was prioritizing alternative sources of energy ahead of nuclear power. He cited untapped geothermal resources, which he said could generate up to 20,000 megawatts of electricity.

He contradicted earlier comments by the head of the Atomic and Nuclear Energy Agency, Sudyartomo Suntono, who said authorities have given the green light to plans to build a nuclear plant that will begin producing electricity in 2016.

Indonesian nuclear power plans were shelved in 1997 in the face of mounting public opposition and the discovery and exploitation of the large Natuna gas field.

Critics, including legislators, environmentalists and academics, have said that Indonesia has many alternative energy sources and that a decision on whether to build the plants should rest with the people.

No one at the energy ministry was immediately available for comment on Tuesday.

The spokesman of the nuclear agency, Deddy Harsono, told AFP on Monday that the first power station project would be tendered in 2008 for start of construction in 2010 and production in 2016.

The plant will be built at the Muria peninsula on Central Java province's northeast coast, chosen for its tectonic and volcanic stability -- a major concern in a country that sees regular eruptions and earthquakes.

Under original plans, 12 nuclear power plants were slated for the northern coast of Java, with a total capacity of 7,000 MegaWatts.

Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, with more than 214 million people, currently relies on hydroelectric-, coal- and fuel-generated electricity.

But the rapid growth in energy consumption has required Jakarta to double its electricity production over the past 25 years.